Hammerfall - Legacy Of Kings
(Nuclear Blast, 1998)

Hammerfall, like Iced Earth, is one of the recent power metal groups making it big overseas, mostly in Europe and Japan. Some say it's only a matter of time until power metal breaks in the United States. If any one would be successful, it would not, however, be Hammerfall. While Hammerfall's powerful and melodious crunch recalls some of the best aspects of eighties metal, it also recalls some of the worst, most self-indulgent, most hilarious garbage this side of Valhalla. It also, unlike Iced Earth, forges no new territory, choosing rather to stick to the safety of pre-manufactured riffs conjured before their time.

There's no argument on a few of these tracks, which actually do their purpose of perfectly recreating that guiltfully pleasurable decade-of-decadence sound. The mid-paced Motley Crue steamroller Let The Hammer Fall has a killer groove, as does At The End Of The Rainbow, which does the mimic job on Ronnie James Dio's version of Black Sabbath (it's painfully obvious they were thinking about Dio's Heaven And Hell). The faster Back To Back makes good escapist axe-wielding fun, although the Manowar-esque vocal break midway through is a little too much Dungeons & Dragons for my taste. Warriors Of Faith has a righteous crunch between the senseless double-bass thrash, which unfortunately encompasses too much of this album.

Most of the tunes blindside you at the exact same pace with the same all-powerful percussive assault (courtesy of the talented Patrik Rafling) that gets tiring even for the most die-hard of metal fans. Joacim Cans's vocals are very prissy and quite helium-infused without restraint, and this sometimes can get irritating. Don't even get me started about the insanely embarrasing barbarian chorus vocals. In reflection though, this isn't neccesarily a bad album, but it is just so very average, and if Hammerfall desire a chapter of their own in rock history, they'll need to invent something more revolutionary. Right now, they're basically what would happen if Don Dokken fronted an Iron Maiden and Manowar cover band; nothing short of novelty.

Rating: 2/5